Asian Shares Finish Lower on Weak China Data

Hong Kong and Japan Lead Regional Decline

Asian markets moved lower on Thursday, with Japan and Hong Kong leading the region down, as an important measure of Chinese manufacturing activity dropped to a seven-month low.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished 1.2% lower at 22394.08 after the initial February reading on HSBC's preliminary manufacturing purchasing managers index slid to 48.3 from a final score of 49.5 in January. A score below 50 points to a contraction in factory...